Automatic machine for packaging products inside containers

ABSTRACT

An automatic machine for packaging products, in particular cosmetic or pharmaceutical products, inside containers ( 11 ), comprising a series of stations ( 15-21, 21 A,  21 B,  21 C,  23-28 ), in each of which the operations required to insert the products and their leaflets into containers or cartons ( 11 ), and to close the cartons ( 11 ) definitively are performed; with the machine the format of the container ( 11 ) can be changed in extremely short times and automatically, by using a keyboard to key in the parameters relevant to the dimensions of the sides (A, B, C) of the carton ( 11 ) utilised.

The present application is a §371 international application,PCT/EP01/01311, filed Feb. 7, 2001 which claims priority to ItalianPatent Application Serial No. MI 2000A 000216, filed Feb. 10, 2000.

The present invention concerns a machine for packaging products incontainers.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

In particular, in the course of the description, reference shall be madeto a cartoning machine, suitable for inserting cosmetic orpharmaceutical products (pills, granular solutions, eye drops, creams,ointments, dissolved solutions, syrups or others), together with one ormore illustrative leaflets related to the physicochemical ororganoleptic composition of the product, inside containers or boxes ofsmall or medium dimensions (cartons).

Generally, horizontal or vertical loading cartoning machines are known,on the basis of the direction in which products are inserted intopackages; in any case, these usually comprise a first feed line on whichthe blanks of the packages into which the products are to be inserted,preformed and pressed against one another, are loaded, a second feedline with the leaflets to be inserted into the packages and a third feedline from which the products to be packaged are collected.

An in-line transfer device allows each blank, held in a verticalposition and moved by one or more pairs of supporting fingers, toadvance from the feed line, in order to convey it to a series ofsubsequent stations, by means of stepping movement of the line, so that,at each machine station, specific operations to close the blank areperformed before the product and relevant illustrative leaflet areinserted inside the packet and the packet is closed.

Moreover, cartoning machines are known to have a station for thedetection and elimination of rejects, usually located downstream of thestation for inserting the products and illustrative leaflets into thecontainers, to allow automatic removal of defective items from the line(for example, due to defective containers, illustrative sheets orleaflets that are missing or do not correspond to the productsinserted), which are identified by means of appropriate sensors andrelevant detection devices.

One of the major problems of known cartoning machines is given by thetotal lack of flexibility of these machines; in fact, once the line hasbeen programmed to handle containers of pre-set dimensions (length,width, height), each time blanks of different dimensions are loaded themachine must be stopped and regulated manually, using special equipmentto adjust all distances and heights relevant to the devices for movementand support in each station, in order to adapt the instruments to theoverall dimensions of the package in use.

This problem is particularly important when considering the frequentpauses in operation that are required, especially when packagingdifferent products; moreover, operations to adjust the various devicesare often inconvenient, difficult and dangerous for the personnel incharge of the machine.

Finally, for operations to open out the blank in order to detach pressedor folded portions of the package, or during closure of the upper andlower tabs of the container it is also necessary to use devices (blades)of various formats, in relation to the height of the container, whichcan be inserted inside the container to perform the above operations.

In this case, according to the type of container being processed, thetool magazine must be fitted with the appropriate format of blade forthe specific size of the container.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

The aim of the present invention is, therefore, to indicate an automaticmachine for packaging products inside containers, which resolves theaforesaid problems, namely to produce an automatic machine that consentsvariation of the format of the containers into which the products areinserted directly in-line, without requiring to interrupt the operationof the entire machine and without needing to manually adjust thedistances and heights of the various devices.

Another aim of the present invention is to indicate an automatic machinefor packaging products, which permits a considerable reduction of theprocessing times, compared to known machines and, consequently, anincrease in productivity.

A further aim of the present invention is to produce an automaticmachine for packaging products inside containers, which at the same timeguarantees extremely safe operating conditions for the operators.

Yet another aim of the present invention is to indicate an automaticmachine for packaging products inside containers, which allows theoperations for personnel in charge of the machine to be simplifiedcompared to the known technique and which allows production costs to bedecreased, using simple technologies and relatively inexpensivecomponents, by virtue of the advantages attained.

These aims, according to the present invention are attained by producingan automatic machine for packaging products inside containers or cartons(11), comprising a plurality of stations (15-21, 21A, 21B, 21C, 23-28)in a line (13), at each of which at least one operation to package theproducts is performed, by means of actuators (AT, AT1, AT2 . . . ),starting from at least one blank, which is collected from a magazine(12), conveyed to a loading station (15) and transferred, according to apre-established route (10), from one station to the next station, beforebeing unloaded at specific reject (27) or storage (28) stations, whereinsaid actuators (AT, AT1, AT2 . . . ) are managed by an electronic axescontrol system, which automatically regulates positioning and movementof said actuators (AT, AT1, AT2 . . . ), on the basis of informationrelevant to at least one dimension (A, B, C) of said carton (11), whichis set by an operator (OP) on an electronic processor (PC) of said axescontrol system, in order to allow the format of said carton (11) to bechanged from a pre-established minimum value to a maximum value ofoverall dimensions of said carton (11) automatically, wherein saidactuators (AT AT1, AT2) comprise pushing devices for said blanks andsaid cartons (11), inserting devices for products and illustrativeleaflets, stamping devices (PT, TC) and devices for generating andprinting bar codes on said cartons (11), devices to detect and processcoherent codes, equipment (ST) for replacing blades (SP) that can becollected from a tool magazine (MU) and wherein said actuators (AT, AT1,AT2) move in relation to the size of said carton (11) being constructed.

Advantageously, reference is made to a particular packaging machine,namely a vertical loading cartoning machine, known to be capable ofpackaging products contained inside bottles or blister packs (cosmeticor pharmaceutical products) into cartons with small and mediumdimensions.

In particular, the vertical loading cartoning machine, according to theinvention, can be used for in-line processing of a variable number ofcartons, from 100 to 100,000, without any difference whatsoever.

In addition to carrying out all operations normally performed by knownvertical loading cartoning machines, it also allows variation of theformat of the container being processed, simply by entering thedimensions of the sides of the container on a keyboard of an operatingsystem which processes the data entered and sends appropriate commands,either directly or via a PLC, to an axes control device, which regulatesthe position and operations of all the stations of the cartoningmachine.

In preferred although unlimiting forms of implementation, the operatorof the cartoning machine according to the invention can change theformat of the container from a minimum of 15×15×50 mm to a maximum of120×120×250 mm, in extremely short times (up to 10 seconds) andautomatically, merely by keying in the dimensions of the sides using akeyboard.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

The characteristics and advantages of an automatic machine for packagingproducts inside containers, according to the present invention, becomemore evident in the following description, relevant to an unlimitingexample of a form of implementation and referring to the annexedschematic drawings, in which:

FIG. 1 represents, schematically and partially, a plan view of a line totransport and handle the containers of a vertical cartoning machine ofthe known type;

FIG. 2 is a block diagram of an electronic system for processing andcontrolling the axes of an automatic machine for packaging productsinside containers, according to the invention;

FIG. 3 is a schematic representation of a plan view of a tool magazineof an automatic machine, according to the invention, operated by theaxes control system in FIG. 2;

FIG. 4 is a schematic representation of a plan view of a dry or ink jetstamp of the automatic machine according to the invention, operated bymeans of the axes control in FIG. 2;

FIG. 5 is a schematic front view of a device for transporting thecontainers in an automatic machine for packaging products, according tothe invention;

FIG. 6 is a perspective view of a container or carton to be utilised inan automatic packaging machine, according to the invention.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

With particular reference to FIGS. 1, 5 and 6, 13 indicates generally atransport line for containers or cartons 11 of an automatic machine forpackaging products, in particular of a vertical loading cartoningmachine.

The container is collected from a magazine 12 of a series of blanks andthen transported along the line 10, typically circular or elliptical inshape, by a plurality of supporting fingers 14 and restraining crossmembers 32, which are moved, by an electromechanical device 30 formovement, in the direction identified by the arrow F in FIG. 1, so thatthe carton 11 is presented at discontinuous and regular intervals infront of each pre-established station, where specific devices performone or more pre-established operations, in order to insert the productinto the package and close this package.

In particular, the blank that will form the container or carton 11,already appropriately pre-shaped according to the format required andstill pressed and folded along its opposite sides L1, L2, is collectedautomatically from the blank magazine 12 and from here loaded onto thetransport line 13 by the fingers 14, at the first station 15 for cartonloading; in the station 15, using traditional mechanical devices, anoperation to open the blank is performed by inserting a point or bladeSP taken from a tool magazine MU into the blank and, subsequently, atthe station 16, an operation is performed to fold the lower sides ortabs L3 of the container 11.

At the station 17 a dry, impressed or ink jet stamp is affixed,typically on the lower surface F1 of the carton 11 (especially in thecase of pharmaceutical products), while at the subsequent station 18 anoperation is performed to fold along the line G1 of the lower flap B1 ofthe carton 11.

In order to fit the lower flap or tongue B1 inside the container 11 andthus close the lower portion of the carton 11, at the station 19 in theline 13 another blade SP is placed in contact with the internal surfaceof the container 11, of a suitable size to aid inserting the lowertongue B1, which moves against the tabs L3, into the carton 11.

Subsequently, at the station 20, one or more leaflets or sheetsillustrating the physicochemical or organoleptic properties of theproduct contained are inserted from above into the container 11, whilesensor and detection devices are used to check that the illustrativeleaflet, carton 11 selected and product to be inserted inside correspondexactly.

In fact, in at least one of the stations of the line 13 indicated with21, 21A, 21B, 21C in FIG. 1 and located typically upstream or downstreamof one of the snub pulleys 22 of the line 13, the product, which may becollected from the pallets BC loose or contained in turn inside bottlesor blister packs, is inserted into the carton 11 either automatically orby an operator OP.

Downstream of a free station 23 in the line 13, available for anyadditional check or control processes, at the station 24 an operation tofold the upper sides or tabs L4 of the carton 11 is performed, followedby an operation to fold the upper flap or tongue B2 along the line G2 atthe station 25, and lastly an operation to close the carton 11definitively, by fitting the upper tongue B2 into the carton 11, againstthe tabs L4.

This insertion, as in the case of the lower flap B1, is aided byinserting a blade of an appropriate length inside the container 11; thisblade is positioned in contact with one of the internal walls of thecarton 11.

The operations described are implemented at the station indicated by 26in FIG. 1. Subsequently, there is a station 27 to identify and rejectdefective cartons 11 (caused either by incorrect processes or if theproduct, leaflet and carton fail to correspond) and then a station 28for storing filled and closed cartons, which are unloaded from the line13 and stored in containing structures or magazines 29.

All movements described above are effected by means of a verticalloading cartoning machine designed according to the present invention,which, by means of appropriate electronic control equipment and an axescontrol system, allows any format of carton 11 within a vast range ofmeasurements to be positioned and moved along the line 13, in a shorttime and automatically, simply by keying in on a keyboard the dimensionsof the sides A, B, C and, if necessary, the width of the tongues B1, B2of the carton 11.

The control equipment processes the set data and sends appropriatecommands, either directly or through a PLC system, to the axes controlsystem, which regulates the position and operation or all actuators,which are present in the various stations of the cartoning machine, inorder to perform the previously mentioned operations to fold the blankand close the carton.

In particular, the electronic equipment utilised makes it possible tocontrol positioning and operation, intended as the direction and speedof movement, of the electric or pneumatic actuators of the cartoningmachine, which perform the operations to fold the blank, to hold thecontainer in the required position, to move the pushing devices used toclose the flaps of the carton and to place the containers in themagazines for storage and reject.

Moreover, it is possible to control the positioning and operation ofdevices to insert the illustrative leaflets and products into thecarton, the positioning and movement of stamps or devices for printingbar codes and to process and check codes coherent with the productinserted in the carton and, lastly, positioning and operation and thereplacement of pieces that can be collected from a pre-establishedseries of tool magazines.

Moreover, an appropriate electronic control processor is used toappropriately manage the magazine 12 containing the blanks, thedimensions of which vary according to the format of the containerrequired, the products magazine, the magazine 29 for processed piecesand rejects, productivity and to store in a file or print data relevantto the products of a specific customer.

In relation to this, in a preferred although unlimiting example of theform of implementation of the present invention, an axes control systemis implemented by means of electronic equipment as illustrated in theblock diagram in FIG. 2, in which, for each actuator AT AT1, AT2 presenton the cartoning machine an electronic board K, K1, K2 . . . isprovided, supplied with alternate current at 24 volts, which, by meansof a serial line LS of the type 485, receives the information concerningthe positions that each actuator AT, AT1, AT2 . . . must assume from aPC electronic processor, according to the dimensions of the sides A, B,C of the container or carton 11 to be processed (depending on theparticular format being processed) and according to the positionsassumed by the aforesaid actuators AT, AT1, AT2 . . . in the momentsimmediately before.

Moreover, a specific data-base allows a drawing of the container 11 tobe represented on PC processor monitor, in order to further aid theoperator during the operation of entering data using the keyboard.

Each actuator AT, AT1, AT2 . . . is connected to a corresponding drivemotor M (brushless or cylinder), which in turn is retroactivated in aclosed loop circuit and connected to a relevant encoder E; the PCelectronic processor can also control a stepping motor, an electricmotor or a series of gears or worm screws, which move cams, moved inturn by one of the aforesaid motors, in order to cause the aforesaidmovements of the actuators.

At the moment in which all the actuators AT, AT1, AT2 . . . arepositioned, according to the methods described previously, the serialline LS dialogues with the control system SC (“PLC” type), which managesmovement of the entire machine, electronically controlling the speed ofthe supporting devices 14, by reading the signals from sensors,interfaces, buttons and photocells present in the various equipments ofeach station in the line 13.

Therefore, when the machine is switched on, the cartons 11 follow theroute identified with 10 in FIG. 1 and, for each single step, thecontrol system SC reads the bar code printed on the container in orderto send, either directly or by means of a “driver”, a control to enablethe subsequent movement if the container, product contained andillustrative leaflet inserted correspond.

Finally, the PC electronic processor performs the function of general“master” for the movement of the actuators AT, AT1, AT2 . . . ;moreover, it manages the speed of the machine and intervals between eachstep and enables the PLC to move the containers between the variousstations when all safety conditions are verified.

Lastly, it is capable of identifying each carton 11, by memorising theassociated bar code and can manage the magazines for blanks, finishedproducts and rejects, the values regarding productivity and informationregarding the cartons and products of a specific customer, which can beprinted or grouped in archive files.

On the other hand, the control system SC directly controls movement ofthe cartons 11 by means of a sequence of discontinuous steps.

In this way, for example, depending on the dimensions of the carton, theloading station 15 is automatically loaded, by means of a pushingdevice, with a group of blanks with the required format, after thesehave been selected from a magazine.

Moreover, depending on the format of carton set, at the same station 15,the control system SC feeds the motor M, so that it moves the pushingdevice ST with an alternate rectilinear movement; this is activated,according to the command received, at the moment in which the previouslyset group of blades SP from the mobile tool magazine MU is in front ofit, as it is suitable for use with containers 11 with a pre-establishedheight C.

This operation is clearly illustrated in FIG. 3. Similarly, depending onthe format of the carton 11, other operations are performed to open theblank and fold the tabs and flaps of the carton 11, to stamp or printthe bar code (for example, by means of a series of circular rotatingstamps TC, positioned fixed to a rotating platform PT, as illustratedschematically in FIG. 4), to insert the illustrative leaflets and tocheck the codes.

Lastly, movements on the level or in space (with two or three axes) ofthe various parts used to process the carton 11 are preferably obtainedusing linear units with belt drive, in the versions with single or dualcarriage, suitably coupled and connected to one another, in order tosatisfy all requirements of length and travel; inside each head of theload-bearing profile of the linear unit is a pulley with a hollow shaftand tang seat for connection with a motor and relevant motion reductionunit, an interface plate or other control part.

With regard to this, for example, a movement with two axes can beobtained by means of a so-called portal structure of the aforesaidlinear units, in which movement of the X axis is obtained utilising apair of linear units in parallel, synchronised by means of acountershaft coaxial to the motor, while the Y axis is formed of alinear unit fitted perpendicular to the other linear unit and connectedby interface plates.

The characteristics of the automatic machine for packaging productsinside containers, which is the subject matter of this invention, becomeclear from the description, as do the resulting advantages.

In particular, these are represented by:

the possibility to operate indifferently in lines with 100 to 100,000cartons of variable formats;

complete automation and automatic positioning of the various actuatormechanisms by means of electronic control of a plurality of axes (up to55 axes);

management and control of the work in progress;

magazine management with printout of work performed, delivery batchesdivided both according to customer and according to product, by means ofa compatible database;

control of the effective presence of a carton in the line;

control, by means of an optical system, of coherence between the cartonbeing processed and the illustrative leaflet contained inside with checkthat this has actually been inserted into the carton;

control of the effective insertion of the relevant product inside thecarton;

possibility to impress a bar code and print by impression or ink-jet theexpiry date of the relevant product or batch;

possibility to change the format of the carton from one with minimumoverall dimensions to one with maximum overall dimensions in anextremely short time (around 10 seconds) and automatically, simply bykeying in the dimensions of the sides of the carton using a keyboard.

Finally, it is obvious that numerous variants can be effected to theautomatic machine for packaging products inside containers, inparticular to the vertical loading cartoning machine, which is thesubject-matter of the present invention, without deviating from theprinciples of intrinsic novelty of the inventive idea. It is alsoobvious that, in the practical implementation of the invention, thematerials, forms and dimensions of the details illustrated may varyaccording to requirements and these may be replaced by others that aretechnically equivalent.

What is claimed is:
 1. An automatic machine for packaging productsinside containers or cartons (11), comprising a plurality of stations(15-21, 21A, 21B, 21C, 23-28) in a line (13), at each of which at leastone operation to package the products is performed, by means ofactuators (AT, AT1, AT2. . .), starting from at least one blank, whichis collected from a magazine (12), conveyed to a loading station (15)and transferred, according to a pre-established route (10), from onestation to a next station, before being unloaded at specific reject (27)or storage (28) stations, wherein said actuators (AT, AT1, AT2. . .) aremanaged by an electronic axes control system, which automaticallyregulates positioning and movement of said actuators (AT, AT1, AT2. ..), on the basis of information relevant to at least one dimension (A,B, C) of said carton (11), which is set by an operator (OP) on anelectronic processor (PC) of said axes control system, in order to allowformat of said carton (11) to be changed from a pre-established minimumvalue to a maximum value of overall dimensions of said carton (11)automatically, wherein said actuators (AT AT1, AT2) comprise pushingdevices for said blanks and said cartons (11), inserting devices forproducts and illustrative leaflets, stamping devices (PT, TC) anddevices for generating and printing bar codes on said cartons (11),devices to detect and process coherent codes, equipment (ST) forreplacing blades (SP) that can be collected from a tool magazine (MU)and wherein said actuators (AT, AT1, AT2) move in relation to the sizeof said carton (11) being constructed.
 2. The automatic machine forpackaging products according to claim 1, wherein said axes controlsystem manages said positioning and movement of said actuators (AT, AT1,AT2. . .), thereby controlling a series of operations to fold a blank,closing said cartons (11).
 3. The automatic machine for packagingproducts according to claim 1, wherein said axes control systemcomprises at least one electronic board (K, K1, K2. . .), which receivesfrom said electronic processor (PC), through at least one serial line(LS), a series of information relevant to at least one dimension (A, B,C) of said carton (11) and to positions of said actuators (AT, AT1, AT2.. .) in intervals of time prior to said information being set, whereinsaid electronic board (K, K1, K2. . .) being connected to a mechanism(M) of at least one of said actuators (AT, AT1, AT2. . .).
 4. Theautomatic machine for packaging products according to claim 3, whereinsaid mechanism (M) comprises electric motors or mechanical devicesdriven by said electric motors, said motors being provided with at leastone encoder and being controlled in retroaction, by means of at leastone closed loop retroaction circuit.
 5. The automatic machine forpackaging products according to claim 3, wherein subsequent to saidpositioning of the actuators (AT, AT1, AT2. . .), said serial line (LS)dialogues with a PLC electronic control system (SC), which manages,either directly or through a driver, operation of said actuators (AT,AT1, AT2. . .) and a sequence of steps required to move said cartons(11) in said line (13).
 6. The automatic machine for packaging productsaccording to claim 5, wherein said PLC electronic control system (SC)manages and controls the works in progress, manages magazines (12, 29,MU) and printout of works performed and delivery batches, divided bothaccording to customer and product, through a compatible database,wherein SC further controls effective presence of cartons (11) in saidline (13), controls coherence between carton (11), product andillustrative leaflets, checks that said leaflet has been inserted intosaid carton (11) and regulates stamping operations to allow cartons (11)of different formats to be processed in said line (13).
 7. The automaticmachine for packaging products according to claim 1, further comprisingan automatic vertical loading cartoning machine for packaging productsinside cartons (11).